These beautiful sleigh /sled ornaments are a wonderful way to use up your small hardwood scraps. The thickness of your wood pieces can vary and you will still have great results. There are several ways that you can create your ornaments, depending on your personal preference.
Because of the way they are constructed, you can make the ornaments to hang on your tree, or to stand up on a table or mantle. I suggest using thinner (1/8”) wood for the runners of the sleighs. and possibly thicker (1/4”) wood for the sleigh beds. This gives the pieces a nicer look and makes them look balanced. If the runners are too thick, they could appear to be rather ‘clunky’ looking.
If you intend to stand the sleighs up on a table or mantle, you need to make two runners for each sleigh bed. Otherwise, if hanging them on a tree or wreath, one runner per ornament is sufficient. That way they are very light and don’t weigh the branches of the tree down. For my hanging versions I used 1/4” maple for the sleigh beds and thinner hardwood scraps for the runners. They varied slightly in thickness, but it didn’t affect the overall look of the set.
I also offered another option of painting these. This is a great option if you don’t have access to exotic hardwoods. For my stand-up versions, I used 1/8” birch plywood for the runners and again 1/4” maple for the sleigh beds. Since the runners were painted, it didn’t matter that they were made from inexpensive plywood. The results were still beautiful.
– 4.5″ long
